GENTLEMAN'S  M/NJl: 


V    '  '^' 


TAN LEY  REEVE 


"RHUBARB" 


Master  Robert  turned  out  in  pink 


November  Ijth 


"rhubarb 


J") 


THE  DIART  OF  A 
GENTLEMAN'S  HUNTER 

BY 

J.  STANLEY   REEVE 


WITH  ILLUSTRATIONS 
Br  THE  AUTHOR 


*  SECOND  EDITION 


PHILADELPHIA 

PRESS  OF  y.  B,  LIPPINCOTT  COMPANY 

1908 


COPYRIGHT,  1908,  BY  J.  STANLEY  REEVE 


TO 

L.  L. 

A  THOROUGH  SPORTSWOMAN, 

QUITE  UNSURPASSED   WITH   A   HORSE  AND  TO   HOUNDS, 

AND  ABOVE  ALL 

POSSESSING  A  MOST  CHARMING   PERSONALITY 

THIS  BOOK  IS 

DEDICATED 


List  of  Illustrations 


Master  Robert  Turned  Out  in  Pink 

November  13th  Frontisfiece 

I  Felt  Quite  a  Real  Gentleman's  Hunter 
August  1 8th 

Miss  Dexter 
September  7th 

*' Galloper"  was  Only  an  Also-Ran 
October  5th 

The  First  Time  Around  They  Were  Pretty  Well  Bunched 
October  5th 

Vagabond 
October  8th 

The  M.  F.  H. 
October  3i8t 


"RHUBARB" 

THE  DIARY  OF  A  GENTLEMAN'S  HUNTER 

August  17th,  Saturday. 

Patrick  came  over  to  the  Farm  this  morning, 
and  brought  me  in  from  pasture.  He  took  me 
away  so  quickly,  that  I  didn't  even  get  a  chance 
to  say  good-by  to  the  gray  mare  Fve  been  running 
with  for  three  months.  He  called  me  over  to  the 
bars,  and  then  led  me  right  on  out,  slipped  a 
bridle  on  me,  and  rode  over  bareback. 

There's  nothing  new  about  the  stable,  ex- 
cepting "Miss  Fair,"  Master  Robert's  coach  dog, 
has  a  nice  litter  of  puppies.  Their  eyes  have  only 
been  opened  since  day  before  yesterday.  I  know 
that  because  I  heard  Patrick  tell  a  groom,  who 
came  over  to  see  about  getting  the  place  of  second 
man.  I  hope  he'll  have  good  hands  if  he  gets 
here. 


August  i8th,  Sunday. 

Patrick  started  on  me  early  this  morning. 
Said  he  couldn't  go  to  mass,  because  he  must  get 
me  in  some  sort  of  shape  before  Master  Robert 
came  out  to  see  me.  My  mane  had  grown  up 
near  a  foot,  and  as  the  gray  mare  out  at  grass 
used  to  jolly  me,  and  say  I  looked  like  an  over- 
grown prehistoric  pony,  Patrick  hogged  it  off  in 
a  jiffy,  combed  a  lot  of  thistles  out  of  my  dock 
and  trimmed  it  up  a  bit;  then  brushed  and  cur- 
ried and  sissed  himself  till  he  was  awfully  hot, 
and  I  felt  quite  a  real  gentleman's  hunter. 

Master  Robert  showed  up  about  nine-thirty, 
all  in  white  flannels,  with  his  face  very  much 
tanned,  so  I  guess  he's  been  on  a  cruise. 

I  whinnied  when  I  heard  his  voice;  I  know 
that  pleased  him,  for  he  said,  "Hello  old  boy, 
haven't  quite  forgotten,  eh.?"  Then  when  Pat 
trotted  me  out  he  stood  off,  looked  me  over,  felt 
my  legs,  looked  at  my  feet,  and  then  patted  me, 
and  said  a  lot  of  nice  things  about  a  good  season 
to  hounds,  plenty  of  foxes,  etc.  Then  he  told 
Patrick  to  have  me  shod  to-morrow,  and  be  care- 
ful about  feeding  for  a  few  days. 


I  felt  quite  a  real  gentleman's  hunter 


August  19th,  Monday. 

My  feet  feel  pretty  heavy  to-night,  although 
the  blacksmith  did  make  a  good  job  of  it,  while 
the  boy  brushed  the  flies  off  with  some  poor 
devil's  tail.  Hunters  seem  to  get  better  attention 
than  ordinary  hacks,  for  the  smithy  talked  about 
me  a  good  deal  to  Patrick — sort  of  took  pains 
with  me. 

When  we  came  back  to  the  stable,  that  groom 
was  sitting  on  an  empty  bucket,  scratching  the 
old  yellow  cat's  head  while  waiting,  and  told 
Patrick  that  Master  Robert  had  told  him  to  come 
and  start  in. 


August  21st,  Wednesday. 

Nothing  doing  since  Monday.  It's  been 
raining;  everything's  damp  and  sticky.  I'm 
getting  tired  of  old  dry  hay,  after  having  had  so 
much  grass;  but  the  few  oats  I've  had  have  been 
all  right.  James,  the  new  groom,  is  a  great 
sisser.  Sisses  better  than  he  rubs,  it  strikes  me, 
but  I  heard  Patrick  tell  Master  Robert  that  James 
was  great  at  cleaning  tack,  so  maybe  we  can  keep 
up  our  reputation  of  being  the  best  turned  out 
members  of  the  hunt. 


September  2nd,  Labor  Day. 

Walk,  walk,  walk,  it's  most  tiresome;  two 
hours  a  day,  over  to  the  kennels  and  back  again 
without  trotting  or  a  bit  of  a  gallop.  I  sure  would 
like  to  have  a  good  run,  so  I  took  it  out  on  a 
fresh  fox  terrier,  who  ran  out  and  tried  to  nip  my 
near  hind  hock — he  was  still  lying  in  the  road 
when  we  turned  off  the  village  street. 

Yesterday,  during  my  walk.  Miss  Wain- 
wright,  one  of  Master  Bob's  girl  friends,  drove 
past.  She  recognized  me  right  away,  pulled  up, 
and  asked  Patrick  how  long  I  had  been  in.  Said 
I  was  looking  pretty  fit  considering  the  dry  sum- 
mer. Patrick  said,  "Yes  Miss"  three  or  four 
times,  then  she  drove  on,  but  I  caught  her  turn- 
ing her  head  and  looking  at  us  after  a  minute. 

Master  Robert  was  always  pretty  keen 
about  Miss  Wainwright;  used  to  hack  me  over 
there  every  day  or  so  for  tea  in  the  afternoon. 
She  was  never  much  good  after  hounds,  and  the 
"Spring  Chicken"  has  often  told  me  he  was 
scared  every  time  he  took  a  jump,  always  felt  as 
if  she  was  going  off,  but  she  usually  sticks  to. 
The  "Chick"  says  she  rides  with  too  long  an 


iron,  and  is  apt  to  make  his  back  sore,  but  I  do 
like  her;  she's  the  smartest  looking  girl  any- 
wheres about;  but  Master  Bob's  mother  don't 
fancy  her  at  all — says  she's  too  mannish  and 
doesn't  know  a  thing  about  housekeeping.  The 
Chick's  still  at  grass. 


Miss  Dexter 


September  7th. 

Master  Robert  took  me  out  this  morning. 
We  walked  over  towards  "Duneiden,"  where  we 
met  the  new  Huntsman  out  with  about  fourteen 
couple  of  hounds  at  road  work,  and  following  in 
the  rear  was  Miss  Dexter.  She  always  exercises 
her  own  horses,  and  was  up  on  old  "Panama." 
He  said  he  had  been  doing  this  walking  business 
a  lot  too.  Master  Bob  was  very  flattering  in  his 
talk  to  Miss  Dexter;  he  certainly  has  a  great 
line  of  jolly,  and  Dexter  seems  to  like  him,  for 
she  went  with  us  a  mile  out  of  her  way,  and  asked 
Master  Bob  to  come  over  to  dinner  that  night, 
and  do  something  else.  I  couldn't  catch  what  it 
was,  as  old  Panama  was  so  chatty. 

Master  Bob  whistled  most  of  the  way  home. 


September  i6th. 

IVe  been  off  grass  now  just  a  month,  and 
am  getting  strong  as  I  ever  was.  My  grass  belly 
has  all  gone,  the  old  sinewy  look  is  coming  back 
again.  I  don't  sweat  nearly  as  easily  as  I  did, 
and  Patrick  has  me  shining  like  a  wet  frog. 

Two  of  Miss  Fair's  girl  puppies  disap- 
peared the  other  day,  but  it  doesn't  seem  a  great 
mystery.  One  of  the  stable  buckets  could  solve 
the  riddle,  but  the  stupid  fat  things  cannot  talk. 
I'm  glad  I  haven't  three  white  rings  painted 
around  me. 


September  17th. 

This  being  used  as  a  lovers'  hack  may  be 
all  right  when  She  is  along,  but  being  left  at 
Duneiden  stables,  tied  outside,  with  only  an  old 
sheet  over  one,  and  not  being  able  to  gossip  with 
the  gees  inside,  is  no  idle  dream.  I  can't  quite 
understand  the  regularity  of  these  trips.  Here 
it's  after  midnight,  and  we  have  just  come  in. 
All  I  get  out  of  it  is  an  extra  handful  of  oats. 
Master  Robert's  always  in  a  bully  humor  though. 
Leaned  over  to-night,  put  his  face  down  on  the 
side  of  my  neck,  patted  the  other  side,  and  said, 
"Think,  old  boy,  cubbing  in  two  weeks."  That's 
the  best  I've  heard  lately. 


September  19th. 

James  spent  all  morning  whitewashing  the 
wings  of  the  jumps  out  back  of  the  stable.  I 
could  see  him  out  the  little  window  in  the  side 
of  my  box. 

I  know  what's  expected  of  me  soon. 

It's  nice  the  weather  is  cooler. 


September  20th. 

Early  this  morning  Master  Robert  rode  me 
down  to  Miss  Wainwright's,  and  in  his  hunt- 
ing-coat pocket  he  took  one  of  the  coach-dog 
puppies.  His  spots  were  just  beginning  to  show. 
Miss  Wainwright  was  evidently  waiting  for  Master 
Bob,  for  she  was  out  in  their  old  formal  garden 
when  we  galloped  up  the  drive.  She  came  right 
over,  told  Master  what  a  perfect  dear  he  was 
to  give  her  the  dalmation,  patted  my  nose,  kissed 
the  puppy  so  much  that  Master  Bob  said  it  was 
a  pity  to  waste  perfectly  good  kisses  on  a  dog, 
but  she  only  smiled,  and  said  she  was  going  to 
call  the  pup  *'Bob.''  Master  Robert  didn't  stay 
long,  just  chatted  a  few  minutes  and  told  her 
some  excuse  and  we  hacked  home.  Then  he 
took  out  the  top  rails  of  the  jumps  behind  the 
stable  and  put  me  over  them  a  few  times.  It 
was  quite  easy  for  the  first  of  the  season.  Pat- 
rick came  out  to  see  the  show,  but  all  he  said  was, 
— "Well,  I  guess  the  old  lad  hasn't  forgotten  all 
he  ever  knew." 

P.S.  Master  Bob  talked  a  lot  to  himself  on 
the  way  home.  Mumbled  something  about  being 
keen  about  two  girls,  and  wished  he  hadn't  given 
the  puppy  to  her.     I  don't  understand. 


September  25th. 

I've  had  a  good  deal  of  jumping  to  do  the 
last  week,  and  have  my  near  hind  hock  all  skinned 
up;  took  off  too  short  or  something,  anyway  I 
didn't  get  over  quite  clean. 

Master  Bob  has  a  new  hunting  suit,  so  he's 
going  to  be  more  dressy  than  ever.  Wore  it  for 
the  first  time  to-day,  when  Miss  Dexter  came 
over  to  school  Panama.  Dexter  is  young,  but  I 
guess  she'll  learn.  Says  she's  never  hunted,  but 
she  sits  to  pretty  well  over  her  jumps,  so  she 
ought  to  get  along. 

Panama  tells  me  she  has  more  sense  than 
most  women  and  don't  make  him  jump  the 
same  panel  back  and  forth  all  the  afternoon  like 
the  Calloway  girl  used  to.  Pan's  a  good  lepper 
and  safe  in  a  tight  place.  Master  Bob  was  very 
anxious  when  she  first  took  him  over. 


September  29th,  Sunday. 

Master  Bob  rode  over  to  "Duneiden"  early 
this  afternoon,  and  Miss  Dexter  was  just  coming 
out  to  the  stable  in  her  habit.  Bob  told  her  she 
was  the  most  beautiful  creature  in  a  habit  he  had 
ever  seen;  it  sort  of  pleased  her  I  guess,  for  she 
came  and  rode  with  us  for  a  couple  of  hours. 
Good  easy  jogging  along,  nice  road  work. 

Dexter  told  Master  Bob  she  did  hate  this 
fast  road  riding,  that  her  father,  the  Captain, 
always  drilled  it  in  her  to  take  things  easy  on  the 
road.  That's  Master  Bob's  idea  too.  But  he 
makes  up  for  it  when  he's  going  to  hounds. 
She's  always  asking  questions  about  hunting, 
and  Master  Bob  tells  her  this  and  that  thing, 
also  that  when  she  gets  in  a  bad  strait  to  ease 
Panama  up  a  bit  and  then  let  him  have  his  own 
way,  and  for  her  to  just  hang  on,  as  Pan  will  get 
through  all  right.  Then  he  says: — "Anyway  I'll 
be  right  there  to  help,  if  I'm  needed." 

That  sort  of  talk  was  kept  up  for  a  long  way 
until  we  came  to  old  man  Crosswick's  covert, 
and  there  on  the  brow  of  the  hill  they  slid  down, 
sat  on  a  log  for  hours  it  seemed  to  me.    Master 


Bob  Fm  afraid  is  in  love;  he  told  her  about 
beautiful  sunsets,  and  things.  Then  he  held  her 
hand;  she  tried  in  a  half-hearted  sort  of  manner 
to  pull  away,  but  that  only  made  Master  seem 
more  anxious.  Pretty  soon  I  could  hardly  believe 
my  eyes,  for  he  had  her  completely  in  his  arms 
and  kissed  her  nice  and  quietly.  Panama  and 
I  turned  our  heads  away,  promising  each  other 
not  to  tell  any  tales  back  at  the  stable.  They 
started  home  right  after  that,  but  let  us  walk  all 
the  way.  It  was  one  of  those  nice  evenings  when 
the  moon  comes  out  as  soon  as  the  sun  sets. 
They  certainly  had  a  lot  to  tell  one  another.  I'm 
all  for  her  myself,  and  I  wish  too  that  she  had  the 
puppy.     It's  a  funny  world,  but  quite  nice. 


October  ist. 

This  afternoon  Master  Robert  hacked  me 
over  to  Miss  Wainwright's,  but  I  didn't  see  her. 
Had  a  short  chat  with  the  "Spring  Chicken," 
and  he  sort  of  thinks  his  Mistress  is  in  love  v^ith 
Master  Bob. 

I've  my  wind  back  again  now,  as  we  galloped 
near  three  miles  home;  wasn't  at  all  blown. 


October  2nd. 

He  talked  to  himself  a  lot  this  afternoon, 
and  from  what  I  could  gather,  he  was  wishing 
he  had  enough  money  to  get  married;  said  he 
was  going  to  ask  his  father  for  some. 

I  wonder  which  girl  it  is;  and  whether  he 
will  build  a  new  stable,  if  he  does.  I  hope  I  get 
a  bigger  box. 


October  3rd. 

Patrick,  James,  the  new  groom,  and  some 
other  coachman,  had  a  bit  of  a  cocking  main 
last  night,  in  the  box  next  to  mine.  I  was  tied  up 
close  and  the  "Galloper,"  Miss  Wainwright's 
hack  pony,  was  put  in  alongside  me.  He's  a 
gossipy  child,  so  I  learned  a  few  things.  Said  his 
Mistress  had  entered  the  Spring  Chicken  in  the 
pink  coat  race  at  the  hunt  meeting;  also  that  she 
was  going  to  ask  Master  Robert  to  ride  for  her. 
I  hope  Master  don't  do  it,  because  the  Chicken 
has  only  been  off  grass  about  a  month,  and  will 
go  down  towards  the  end  for  sure,  and  hunting 
is  too  near  to  run  any  chances  like  that. 

One  of  the  game  cocks  nearly  killed  a  puppy 
of  "Miss  Fair's,"  picked  his  head  all  sore. 


October  4th. 

Master  Bob  must  be  away;  he's  probably  up 
in  town,  for  he  hasn't  been  about  since  Sunday. 
Patrick's  been  galloping  me  every  day. 


Galloper ' '  was  only  an  also-ran 


October  5th. 

Spent  rather  a  nervous  afternoon. 

Patrick  hacked  me  over  to  the  race  meeting. 
We  reached  there  just  in  time  for  the  pony  race, 
in  which  Galloper  started,  but  was  only  an  also- 
ran.  Told  me  later  that  Miss  Wainwright  just 
started  him  to  fill  up  the  entries,  and  inciden- 
tally to  please  the  M.  F.  H.,  on  whom  the  Gal- 
loper says  she's  quite  keen. 

The  remainder  of  the  flat  races  were  pretty 
good,  and  the  first  steeple-chase  went  off  splen- 
didly, then  came  time  for  the  pink  coat  race,  and 
the  second  one  in  the  parade  by  the  stand  was 
Master  Robert  on  the  "Spring  Chicken."  "Gal- 
loper" said  that  on  the  way  over  the  Chicken 
was  terribly  nervous  and  wanted  to  stop  and 
drink  at  every  place  he  had  ever  had  water  before. 
Spring  Chicken,  I  must  confess,  was  looking 
pretty  fit,  taken  all  in  all,  but  I  heard  two  of 
Master  Robert's  friends  say,  just  at  the  get  away, 
what  big  chances  he  was  taking.  The  first  time 
around  they  were  pretty  well  bunched,  but  at  the 
jump  back  of  the  buttonwood  tree,  there  was 
quite  a  mix-up.     The  M.  F.  H.  went  down  and 


laid  still  a  while.  Captain  Jennings  on  Lamp- 
light turned  somersaults  over  them,  but  were  up 
and  ofF  in  a  jiffy.  Master  Bob  and  the  Chicken 
cleared  them  all  in  their  stride,  and  a  big  cheer 
went  up.  Everyone  must  have  thought  the 
Chick  would  be  down,  but  Master  Robert  was 
riding  him  some.  They  only  had  once  more  to  go 
round  with  the  Chicken  a  good  third  and  the 
leader  rapping  badly,  when  all  of  a  sudden  the 
Chick  doubled  up  like  a  jack  knife  right  in  front 
of  the  Liverpool,  and  went  down  with  a  crash. 
Master  Bob  fell  clear,  but  didn't  get  up,  and  the 
Chicken  crashed  through  the  boards  and  hedge 
and  lay  in  the  water.  The  Captain  cleared 
Master  Robert  and  scrambled  over  the  Chicken, 
and  I  don't  know  yet  who  won,  for  I  took  Patrick 
across  the  field  so  quickly,  that  we  beat  the  patrol 
judge,  who  was  at  the  next  jump,  in  getting  to 
Master  Robert,  who  was  still  terribly  quiet  and 
pale  with  a  red  streak  down  his  forehead.  Pat- 
rick was  off  and  lifted  poor  Master  Bobbie  over 
to  the  fresh  turf.  A  crowd  soon  collected  and  the 
next  thing  I  saw  was  Miss  Wainwright  edging 
her  way  through  the  people;  I  heard  her  tell  the 
Doctor  something  about  an  engagement,  then  the 


crowd  sort  of  melted.  Patrick  grew  very  cross 
and  picked  Master  up  and  carried  him  to  our  own 
wagonette,  where  the  Madam  was  weeping,  and 
Miss  Wainwright  disappeared.  I  followed  along- 
side, and  saw  through  the  glass  that  Master  Bob 
was  sitting  up  with  his  mother,  wiping  the  blood 
off  his  face.  He  soon  was  smiling  and  took  notice 
of  the  last  steeple-chase.  Patrick  cursed  a  lot  on 
the  road  home  about  meddling  women  and  soft 
horses,  and  later  in  the  evening  read  a  big  ac- 
count of  it  all  to  James,  as  he  did  us  up  for  the 
night.  Patrick  was  very  mad  when  he  came  to 
the  part  that  said, — "Considerable  gossip  was 
started  around  the  race  course  this  afternoon, 
when  after  an  accident  in  the  fourth  race,  in 
which  a  gentleman  jockey  was  injured,  a  smartly 
dressed  girl,  quite  well  known  in  the  hunting 
colony,  and  whose  hunter  is  named  after  a  pop- 
ular comic  opera,  rushed  over  to  the  scene  of  the 
accident,  and  was  greatly  concerned  over  the 
prostrate  form  in  pink,  and  'tis  rumored,  she  told 
the  physician  in  charge,  that  the  man  was  her 
fiance." 

Patrick  was   still   swearing  when  he  locked 
me  up  for  the  night,  and  the  last  thing  I  heard 


him  say  was,  "Racing's  no  place  for  a  nervous 
woman."  The  butler  came  out  to  the  stables  to 
hear  about  the  races,  but  I  guess  it  was  to  get 
out  of  answering  the  telephone,  for  he  said  about 
a  thousand  people  had  called  up  to  ask  about 
Master  Robert. 


October  6th,  Sunday. 

I  was  mighty  glad  this  morning  to  see  Master 
Bob  in  his  tweeds,  and  not  a  mark  on  him.  He 
rode  me  over  to  Duneiden,  so  that  we  came  in 
the  gates  just  at  Miss  Dexter  was  driving  in  from 
church.  She  and  Master  Robert  strolled  about 
through  the  gardens  for  half  an  hour,  when  we 
galloped  home.  Patrick  told  James  that  the 
Sunday  papers  made  an  awful  ass  of  that  girl.  I 
suppose  he  means  Miss  Wainwright. 


October  8th. 

It  really  looks  as  if  we  were  beginning  to  live 
again,  as  cubbing  started  this  morning  at  dawn. 
I  had  sort  of  expected  it  soon,  for  it  has  been  fine 
and  frosty  for  some  time.  Then  when  Patrick 
opened  the  stable  at  4.30,  I  was  sure  something 
was  doing,  and  I  didn't  get  a  drink  either,  an- 
other sure  sign. 

Master  Robert  came  out  at  half  after  five 
and  we  trotted  over  to  Duneiden,  where  I  sup- 
posed of  course  we  would  have  to  wait  about  in 
the  cold,  but  the  Lady  was  waiting.  Quite 
unusual  to  find  a  girl  all  ready  to  go  when  one 
arrives  (another  point  in  her  favor).  She  and 
Master  Bob  were  in  fine  spirits,  and  as  the  moon 
was  up,  it  was  a  nice  hack  back  through  the  hills 
to  the  kennels.  They  were  quite  chatty  all  the 
way.  Master  Bob  telling  her  to  take  things  easily 
and  seeming  anxious  about  her.  Said  something 
about  not  knowing  what  he  would  do  if  any- 
thing were  to  happen  to  her,  etc. 

Only  a  dozen  turned  out,  and  the  young 
hounds  were  noisy  at  first,  but  old  Vagabond 
led  them  out  as  he  has  done  for  years.    We  found 


Vagabond 


soon  in  Livingston's  wood,  just  as  the  sun 
came  up  over  the  trees,  and  oh!  the  v^ay  we 
flew;  for  a  cub  he  was  a  screamer.  I  guess  his 
mother  had  told  him  a  few  things  about  hounds, 
as  he  made  his  point  straight  out  across  country 
for  the  old  deserted  marble  quarry.  It  was  Miss 
Dexter's  first  go  after  hounds,  so  we  were  gallop- 
ing right  alongside  her  all  the  time.  The  Hunts- 
man's gee  broke  the  top  rails  on  the  first  two 
fences,  making  it  easy,  and  she  was  sitting  well. 
Hounds  sank  the  little  valley  and  we  flew  the 
brook  in  a  grand  pace,  up  the  hill  to  a  rasper 
of  a  new  four-railer.  Mr.  Huntsman  hit  the  top 
rail  again,  but  it  didn't  break;  they  turned  over 
in  the  air  Hke  a  shot  rabbit,  but  were  up  and  on 
again  in  no  time.  Old  Panama  and  Miss  Dexter 
made  it  beautifully.  I  wasn't  in  my  stride,  so 
had  to  go  at  it  again.  Master  Bob  patted  my 
neck  and  said  it  showed  my  good  sense.  The 
galloping  was  fine  now  for  near  ten  minutes,  with 
practically  nothing  to  jump,  when  we  came  to  a 
wall  which  we  all  did  rather  nicely,  the  first  stone 
of  the  season,  and  Miss  Dexter's  very  first. 
Hounds  turned  him  over  in  the  next  field  on  good 
grass,    with    the    Huntsman,    both    whips,    Miss 


Dexter,  and  Master  Robert  right  on  the  spot. 
Old  Vagabond  killed  like  he  always  does;  the 
Huntsman  saw  that  all  the  puppies  were  blooded; 
Master  Bob  tied  the  brush  to  Miss  Dexter's 
bridle,  and  told  her  what  a  great  piece  of  work 
she  had  done.  They  had  lots  to  talk  about  going 
home,  but  Master  Bob  found  time  to  say  a  few 
other  nice  things  too.  Patrick  had  gone  out  with 
the  family  by  the  time  we  came  in,  so  Master  Bob 
told  the  new  groom  to  watch  him  do  a  horse 
right,  and  Master  Bob  knows  how  too.  Fm  a 
bit  tired,  but  that's  all.  Have  a  new  set  of  band- 
ages. 


October  9th. 

Patrick  and  Master  Robert  had  a  long  talk 
to-day,  just  outside  my  box,  about  putting  me  in 
the  little  show  at  the  kennels,  in  the  Ladies' 
Hunter  Class.  Pat  wanted  Miss  Wainwright  to 
ride  me,  but  Master  Bob  insisted  on  Miss  Dexter. 
Then  he  took  me  out,  looked  me  over,  saying, — 
"Well,  I  guess  Fll  ride  him  over  and  ask  Miss 
Deborah."  It  felt  good  to  get  some  of  the  kinks 
out,  we  galloped  on  the  grass  a  while,  then  Master 
Bob  went  in  Duneiden  and  I  talked  yesterday's 
run  over  with  Panama.  Stayed  there  about  an 
hour. 


October  loth. 

We  went  out  with  Miss  Dexter  again  to-day, 
walked  most  of  the  time,  and  in  a  hollow  near  the 
village  a  big  red  dog  fox  ran  right  down  the  road 
ahead  of  us.  If  we  had  only  had  a  few  couple  of 
hounds,  what  a  burst  we  could  have  had.  Miss 
Deborah  and  Master  Bob  went  in  the  "Gray 
Swan"  for  tea,  so  the  stable  boy  walked  Pan  and 
me  around  the  yard.  Quite  a  pleasant  afternoon, 
but  it  seems  to  me  these  Duneiden  trips  occur 
quite  often. 


October  nth. 

Patrick  put  a  side-saddle  on  me  to-day,  so  I 
was  prepared  for  the  worst.  Pretty  soon  Miss 
Dexter  with  Master  Bob  drove  in.  She  has  fair 
hands  and  some  go  in  her.  I  took  her  about 
rather  nicely  for  a  few  minutes,  when  Master 
told  her  to  try  the  jumps.  It's  a  bit  awkward  at 
first,  this  side-saddle  business,  but  I  thought  I 
ought  to  be  careful  and  was.  Every  one  seemed 
quite  well  pleased,  and  Dexter  kissed  me.  I 
didn't  blush,  because  I  don't  know  how,  but  I 
felt  awfully  funny  inside.  I  wonder  if  she  ever 
kissed  Mr.  Bob.  It  certainly  was  bully;  then 
she  gave  me  a  piece  of  sugar. 


October  14th,  Saturday. 

The  show  was  the  easiest  ever,  the  jumps 
just  right  and  I  gave  Miss  Deborah  Dexter  the 
ride  of  her  Hfe.  They  couldn't  help  giving  us 
the  cup,  and  Master  Bob  gave  it  to  her,  but  I 
wore  the  ribbon  home. 

Patrick  seemed  tickled  to  death. 


October  20th. 

Another  rainy  spell  of  weather;  three  solid 
days  of  it.  James,  the  new  groom,  rode  me  over 
to  the  Post-office  this  afternoon. 

I  just  remember,  that  on  my  way  home  from 
the  Show  the  other  day,  Miss  Dexter  told  Master 
Bob  that  maybe  she  was  going  up  to  town  for  a 
week,  and  wanted  to  know  whether  he  would 
write,  and  if  he  would  come  up  for  dinner  some 
evening.  That  probably  accounts  for  Patrick 
having  to  meet  the  late  train  with  the  cart  last 
nieht. 


October  21st. 

Late  this  afternoon  Master  Robert  and  I 
went  down  to  the  village.  Master  seemed  in  a 
hurry  to  get  there,  but  came  home  the  long  way, 
around  through  the  valley  and  passed  the  "Gray 
Swan."  He  stopped  for  the  afternoon's  post, 
and  was  all  smiles  when  he  came  out,  sorted  the 
letters  and  put  all  but  a  sort  of  blue  one  in  his 
side  coat-pocket.  The  blue  one  he  put  inside 
somewhere,  then  he  gave  little  Joe,  the  Hunts- 
man's boy,  who  was  holding  me,  a  shiny  round 
thing,  and  we  trotted  down  toward  the  hill.  At 
the  toll-house  he  bought  a  bag  of  tobacco,  filled 
his  pipe,  and  smoked  until  we  turned  off  the 
pike,  when  he  opened  the  blue  letter,  and  let  me 
walk  way  past  the  Swan.  Seems  to  me  he  read 
it  over  two  or  three  times,  because  he  turned  the 
pages  all  around  a  lot,  and  said  something  about 
it  being  hard  to  read,  but  was  quite  worth  the 
trouble.  After  a  while  he  folded  it  all  up  again 
and  put  it  away.  He  patted  me  a  lot  on  the  neck 
after  that,  so  I  gave  him  an  awful  sweet  gallop  the 
rest  of  the  way,  as  far  as  the  road  was  soft.  He 
started  smoking  again  just  before  we  reached  home. 

Patrick  told  him  Miss  Wainwright  had  just 
ridden  by. 


October  26th,  Saturday. 

It's  been  a  pretty  tough  day  and  I'm  tired. 

We  ran  a  drag  from  the  kennels  this  after- 
noon, quite  a  field  out,  for  I  heard  Master  Robert 
count  up  to  46,  when  some  one  splashed  mud  in 
my  eye  and  I  lost  count.  Master  Bob  didn't 
seem  very  keen.  We  kept  by  ourselves,  and  rode 
our  own  line  most  of  the  time.  It  was  rather 
fast  at  first,  and  awfully  deep  going,  especially 
the  cornfields,  where  most  everybody  was  plung- 
ing and  lunging  along,  while  the  hounds  ran  clean 
away  from  us,  until  they  came  to  the  first  check 
near  the  old  burned  school-house. 

Master  Bob  kept  me  on  the  outside  of  the 
crowd  during  the  check,  but  we  were  soon  off 
again  with  somewhat  better  going  through  a  lot 
of  nice  galloping  fields.  Then  came  a  couple  of 
soft  cornfields  and  a  big  four-railer  to  take,  to 
get  out.  We  were  near  the  fence  of  the  field  on 
our  off  side,  where  it  was  fair  footing,  so  hadn't 
any  trouble,  but  three  went  down  on  our  near 
side  and  several  more  refused  and  slid  up  against 
it  in  the  mud.  Hounds  were  running  fast  again, 
but  we  were  doing  finely,  when  there  was  a  dull 


thud,  and  as  Master  Bob  turned  to  look,  I  heard 
him  say  to  himself, — "Damn  it,  she's  down," 
and  louder  to  me, — "Whoa  boy,  we'll  have  to  go 
over  there  and  see  what's  to  be  done." 

The  Spring  Chicken  was  eating  a  bit  of 
grass,  and  Miss  Wainwright  was  lying  flat  on 
her  back,  with  her  groom  running  around  asking 
for  a  flask.  Her  derby  was  mashed  in,  and  her 
shoulders  quite  dirty,  but  Master  Bob  just  gave 
me  to  a  lad  who  came  up,  to  hold,  and  picked 
Miss  Wainwright  up,  sat  down  in  a  fence  corner, 
and  held  her  sort  of  half  up.  He  told  some 
other  man  what  to  do,  sending  one  galloping 
to  a  stream  for  a  hat  of  water,  but  she  had  opened 
her  eyes  before  he  came  back.  I  guess  she  didn't 
notice  Master  Robert  at  first,  but  in  a  minute  her 
eyes  kind  of  rolled  up  and  she  saw  who  it  was. 
All  she  said  at  first  was, — "O!  Bob  dear,  dear," 
— ^The  men  turned  away,  and  Master  Bob  went 
pink  in  the  face.  I  knew  he  wanted  help,  but 
what  could  I  do  ^  Then  Mrs.  White  came  up, 
and  I  know  Master  was  relieved,  for  he  let  her 
hold  Wainwright's  head.  She  didn't  cry,  and  I 
was  glad  of  it,  for  I've  often  heard  Master  Robert 


say, — "If  there's  anything  I  can't  stand,  it's  to 
see  a  woman  cry."  Mrs.  White  and  Master 
sort  of  felt  around,  and  sent  the  groom  off  for  a 
carriage.  He  was  soon  back,  for  some  young 
girls  were  following  in  a  cart,  they  drove  in  the 
field  and  let  Master  Bob  and  Mrs.  White  take 
Wainwright  home.  I  haven't  seen  Master  since, 
as  one  of  the  girls  in  the  cart  rode  me  home.  I 
quite  liked  the  child.  Her  hands  were  good,  but 
her  legs  were  short,  so  she  rode  with  her  feet 
through  the  leathers  on  top  of  the  irons.  She 
had  on  little  tan  shoes,  and  as  Master  Bob  would 
say, — "Mighty  good  looking  ankles."  She  knew 
what  she  was  about,  for  she  took  me  home  slowly, 
and  told  Patrick  I'd  had  quite  a  lot  of  it,  so  he'd 
better  do  me  up  pretty  good.  Then  she  asked  to 
be  sent  over  to  Miss  Wainwright's.  James  drove 
her  over.  Patrick  asked  her  a  lot  of  questions, 
but  didn't  find  out  who  she  was,  and  neither  did 
James,  but  when  he  came  back,  said  Miss  Wain- 
wright's collar-bone  was  broken,  and  she  was 
quite  a  bit  shaken  up. 


October  27th,  Sunday. 

There's  never  much  doing  the  next  day 
after  a  hunt,  but  I  did  hear  a  lot  of  gossip.  Master 
Robert  came  out  to  see  me  this  morning,  felt  my 
legs,  and  told  Patrick  to  walk  me  about  an  hour. 
So  Pat  took  me  out;  we  went  over  to  the  kennels. 
There  the  first  one  I  saw  was  the  Chicken.  I 
stood  by  him  for  over  an  hour.  One  or  two 
others  came  in  that  had  been  on  the  run  yester- 
day, and  jollied  him  a  lot.  The  Chicken  seemed 
a  bit  touchy  on  the  subject,  said  he  just  jumped 
her  off,  and  that  such  things  will  happen.  They 
do,  too. 

The  kennel  man  told  Patrick  he  heard  that 
Master  Robert  was  engaged  to  Miss  Wain- 
wright,  and  that  the  wedding  was  to  be  in  the 
spring.  Then  when  Miss  Wainwright's  groom 
came  in,  they  asked  him  a  lot  of  stuff,  but  he 
hadn't  much  to  say,  only  that  Miss  Helen  would 
be  around  again  in  a  day  or  so,  but  couldn't  ride 
for  a  good  while,  and  maybe  not  hunt  all  season. 

Patrick  told  James  the  things  he  had  heard, 
after  we  were  home.  James  said  he  didn't  think 
Master  Bob  was  the  marrying  kind. 


October  29th. 

The  trips  over  to  **Duneiden"  have  started 
again.  Master  Robert  rode  me  over  there  this 
morning.  I  heard  the  man  in  the  stable  say  that 
Louise,  Miss  Deborah's  maid,  had  told  one  of 
them  that  she  (Miss  Dexter)  had  brought  a  new 
habit  from  town. 

Master  Bob  was  very  cheerful  on  the  way 
home;   sang  to  himself  and  talked  to  me. 


October  30th. 

Patrick   galloped   me   around   this   morning, 
then  put  me  over  the  jumps  a  couple  of  times. 


The  M.  F.  H. 


October  31st. 

Another  one  of  these  early  starts  this  morn- 
ing; seems  to  me  I  had  my  breakfast  in  the 
middle  of  the  night. 

Master  Robert,  the  M.  F.  H.,  the  huntsman 
and  one  whip  were  the  only  ones  out. 

It  wasn't  much  of  a  run,  as  we  killed  a  cub 
as  soon  as  he  broke  cover,  but  we  pottered  about 
a  lot  at  first,  then  it  started  to  rain,  so  we  all 
came  in. 


November  5th. 

Master  Robert  and  Miss  Dexter  went  oflF 
for  a  long  ride  this  morning. 

It  was  muddy,  but  they  didn't  care,  and  I 
always  did  like  to  splash  through  the  wet. 

They  had  the  most  to  say  to  one  another 
that  I  ever  heard,  and  rode  rather  slow,  and 
laughed  a  lot.  We  ate  at  an  inn  over  in  the 
country  Master  Bob  and  I  spent  a  week  in  last 
winter. 

Coming  home  he  told  her  all  about  Miss 
Wainwright's  fall  the  other  day,  and  how  she 
called  him  love-names  when  she  came  to,  and 
how  the  people  turned  away. 

We  must  have  gone  about  thirty  miles 
altogether. 


November  9th. 

There  wasn't  any  hunting  to-day;  the  ground 
was  too  soft. 

Master  Bob  and  I  just  hacked  about  the 
country  for  a  couple  of  hours. 

P.S.     Have  a  new  salt  brick  in  my  box. 


November  loth. 

Had  the  regular  Sunday  inspection  to-day. 
Old  Polo  was  nervous  as  usual;  says  he  always 
expects  someone  to  come  around  with  a  red  hot 
iron  and  brand  "I.C."  on  him,  at  these  Sunday 
examinations,  just  because  he's  getting  cow 
hocked  and  a  bit  over  in  his  off  knee.  He  can't 
get  those  western  ideas  out  of  his  head. 


November  nth. 

Patrick  spent  most  of  the  morning  with  me, 
and  here  I  am  feehng  pretty  sporty,  but  a  little 
chilly.  The  clipping  part  I  don't  mind  so  much, 
but  I  do  hate  that  flat  iron  thing  that  makes  a 
smell.  I  haven't  any  hair  left  excepting  where  the 
saddle  goes,  a  little  point  on  top  of  my  dock,  and 
on  my  legs. 

Master  Bob  said  I  looked  fine,  so  I  guess  I 
do.  Then  he  rode  me  over  to  "Duneiden,"  but 
didn't  stay,  just  whistled  out  in  front  of  the  place 
for  a  minute;  nobody  came  out,  so  we  trotted 
home. 


November  13th,  Wednesday. 

It's  been  a  wonderful  day. 

Hounds  met  this  morning  at  10:30,  at  the 
toll-house  corner,  but  the  M.  F.  H.  gave  a 
breakfast  at  9  o'clock,  so  we  all  really  met  then. 

Master  Robert  turned  out  in  pink  for  the 
first  time  of  the  season,  and  if  I  do  say  it  myself, 
we  were  quite  the  best  set  up  of  all  the  field. 

We  trotted  first  of  all  over  to  "Duneiden," 
and  the  fair  lady  there  was  up  on  Panama  when 
we  arrived.  Master  Bob  was  all  smiles  and  nice 
words  to  her.  Told  her  how  he  liked  her  in  a 
topper,  and  about  her  many  allurements.  At  the 
M.  F.  H.'s  there  were  great  doings.  Patrick  had 
driven  over,  and  was  waiting  for  us,  so  led  the 
Pan  and  me  up  and  down  it  seemed  for  hours. 
I  hate  this  waiting  around  before  a  meet. 

Some  of  the  field  were  a  bit  wild  when  we 
finally  started,  too  much  ale  I  guess,  but  the 
"Village  Scold,"  as  Master  Bob  calls  one  girl 
(I  never  heard  of  her  by  any  other  name),  must 
feel  a  lot  better,  for  she  certainly  got  a  lot  of  talk 
and  complaints  out  of  her  system. 

We  didn't  find  right  away,  but  when  we  did 


It  was  a  ripper.  The  first  burst  was  fast  as  light- 
ning, over  a  brook  where  the  Scold's  horse  re- 
fused, and  my  hind  legs  landed  in  the  mud  on 
the  opposite  bank.  We  checked  a  minute;  when 
we  were  off  again.  I  kicked  the  mud  out  of  my 
shoes  on  the  Scold's  white  gloves.  Mister  Hyde- 
Parkes'  wife  has  just  died,  so  he  turned  out  in 
light  blue,  and  Master  Robert  laughed  a  lot 
when  the  "Village  Scold"  said,  "The  very  idea 
of  any  man  hunting  in  sky  blue;  who  ever  heard 
of  such  a  thing. "  Maybe  she  hasn't  a  few  things 
to  learn. 

It  tickled  Master  Bob  a  lot,  so  he  told  Miss 
Dexter  about  it.  Hounds  made  across  the  valley, 
the  first  point  being  the  old  quarry,  then  through 
the  stone-wall  country,  to  an  in  and  out  across  a 
walled  lane.  Miss  Dexter  and  Master  Bob  had 
been  riding  partners,  but  were  separated  at  the 
lane  by  a  cart  that  came  galloping  down  and 
blocked  every  one.  There  was  Spring  Chicken 
in  harness,  a  groom  driving,  and  Miss  Wain- 
wright  with  her  arm  in  a  sling.  Master  Bob 
stopped  me  in  the  middle  of  the  lane,  long  enough 
to  see  that  Miss  Deborah  was  over  the  first  wall, 


but  Pan  never  went  out  of  his  stride,  just  popped 
over  the  second  as  easy  as  you  please.  Master 
Bob  said  "Hello"  to  Wainwright,  and  we  were 
off  again,  galloping  strong.  Someone  was  smashed 
quite  up,  by  jumping  into  Wainwright's  cart. 
Lots  of  the  field  were  now  dropping  out,  so  the 
accident  was  a  good  excuse.  We  crossed  the 
County  line  back  of  the  Bridge  Farm,  where  the 
going  was  lovely,  big  pastures  and  hedges,  and 
nobody  to  bother  with.  Just  the  Master,  ser- 
vants. Captain,  and  Mrs.  Walker  and  the  M.  F. 
H.'s  fascinating  cousin  on  old  "Blue  Rock." 

We  viewed  in  a  couple  of  fields,  across  the 
railroad,  hounds  were  running  with  heads  up, 
and  about  to  turn  him  over,  when  Mister  Fox 
holed  just  in  the  nick  of  time. 

The  M.  F.  H.  was  the  happiest  man  I  ever 
saw,  next  to  Master  Robert,  who  was  mighty 
glad  that  we  had  a  two  hours  hack  home,  so  as 
to  be  with  Miss  Dexter,  and  talk  things  over. 
Panama  gave  her  an  awfully  sweet  ride. 


November  14th. 

Master  Bob  jogged  me  over  to  Miss  Wain- 
wright's  this  morning,  his  legs  felt  nervous,  and 
he  didn't  take  much  notice  of  the  country  like  he 
usually  does.  Stayed  there  a  couple  of  hours. 
He  was  in  fine  spirits  on  the  way  home,  cracked 
his  hunting  thong  a  lot,  and  made  me  gallop 
wherever  it  was  soft. 


November  23rd,  Saturday. 

The  M.  F.  H.  has  been  away  for  the  past 
week,  so  Master  Robert  has  been  the  Field 
Master;  therefore  I've  been  hunted  every  other 
day,  and  had  quite  a  plenty,  but  a  lot  of  good 
sport,  with  splendid  going. 

To-day  Miss  Deborah  drove  with  us  instead 
of  hunting,  and  was  quite  near  when  we  ran  to 
earth.  As  it  was  nine  miles  home,  she  asked 
Master  Bob  to  drive  with  her,  so  I  was  led  behind 
with  the  girths  nice  and  loose,  and  the  irons 
put  near  the  top.  The  talk  wasn't  on  hunting  as 
much  as  usual,  but  it  must  have  been  nice,  for 
coming  through  the  Parson's  wood,  the  arms  of 
Master  Bob's  pink  coat  were  all  around  Miss 
Deborah.   It's  a  long  way  through  the  wood  too. 

Master  Bob  stayed  at  "Duneiden,"  and 
Patrick  came  over  after  me  late  this  afternoon. 


November  24th,  Sunday. 

Patrick  and  James  were  talking  this  after- 
noon, and  it  seems  that  Patrick  drove  Master 
Robert  to  church  this  morning,  but  Master  Bob 
didn't  come  home  with  the  family,  but  walked 
out  through  the  church-yard  with  Miss  Dexter. 


November  25th,  Monday. 

Ym  quite  sad  to-night,  feel  sort  of  all  broken 
up,  but  suppose  I  shouldn't,  for  Master  Bob  is 
so  happy. 

He  took  me  out  this  afternoon  on  a  little 
jaunt  with  Miss  Dexter;  they  were  awfully  jolly, 
and  talked  about  things  I  don't  understand,  and 
Master  Bob  on  our  way  back  from  "Duneiden," 
asked  me  how  I  would  like  having  a  new  Mis- 
tress. Having  never  had  one,  I  don't  know,  but 
I  guess  Panama  and  I  can  live  in  the  same  stable 
in  peace  and  harmony. 


The  End. 


